Bridges Center for Healthy Life Transitions - Central Michigan University

Bridges Home | Outcomes | Upcoming Events | Fall and Balance Center

Fall and Balance Center for Assessment and Rehabilitation:

A Carls Center and Bridges Initiative

Carls Center for Clinical Care and Education

For information and scheduling, contact (989) 774-1853.

FBC Referral Form (.pdf)

Resources

Audiology Reference Bibliography

Annotated Fall Prevention Bibliography

Annotated Huntington's Bibliography

Annotated Multiple Sclerosis Bibliography

Annotated Parkinson's Bibliography

Annotated Vestibular Assessment Bibliography

Physical Therapy Reference Bibliography

Services Provided / Facts About Falls / Links

WHAT IS THE FALL AND BALANCE CENTER?

CMU's Fall and Balance Center focuses on fall prevention assessment, rehabilitation for balance disorders as well as those with medical conditions that predispose them to a risk for falling. Among its key features, the center:

Accepts patient referrals from physicians.
Complements services offered by area health care providers.
Ranks as a charter member of the Michigan Fall Prevention Partnership.
Enhances health student education and gives specialized service with state-of-the-art equipment, including a NeuroCom Unit, which tests balance with a computer evaluation - the only such equipment north of Ann Arbor.

The Fall and Balance Center for Assessment and Rehabilitation (FBC) is a collaborative effort of the Carls Center for Clinical Care and Education, the Bridges Center for Healthy Life Transitions, the Communication Disorders and Rehabilitation and Medical Sciences Departments within the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow College of Health Professions. The long term goal is to become a state-of-the-art clinical and education facility that specializes in Fall and Balance Assessment and Rehabilitation that will provide unique educational and clinical opportunities for students to blend theory with practice by partaking in clinical service to the larger community.

SERVICES PROVIDED

The Fall and Balance Center for Assessment and Rehabilitation (FBC) will provide a comprehensive program to assess, identify, and treat patients with balance, mobility and dizziness disorders and the resulting loss of functional skills. The center will serve as an advanced training facility that provides educational and clinical opportunities for students and practitioners to blend theory with practice. The educational opportunities available through the center will work to develop a growing core of expertise in fall prevention and balance assessment among healthcare providers and scholars in a variety of disciplines.

The FBC will serve as a clearinghouse for the dissemination of fall prevention and balance assessment-related resources and best practices by providing access to information via the web, and written materials, and through workshops, symposiums, and conferences that foster awareness and enhance the health care workforce skills in central and northern Michigan.

Ultimately, the collaborative effort of both the university and the community through the activities of the center will contribute to the reduction in the rate of fatal injuries and not-fatal fall injury hospitalizations in central and northern Michigan.

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FACTS ABOUT FALLS

Falls are currently the leading cause of injury and the most common cause of hospitalization for trauma among older adults. Research indicates that nearly 80 percent of adults over the age of 65 who visit an emergency department cite falling as the cause of the injury, and half of these adults require hospitalization. Hip fractures are the most common fall-related injury leading to hospitalization, and half of all senior citizens hospitalized for this injury never regain former mobility levels, while 20 percent die within a year (Healthy Aging through Injury Prevention: Michigan's Call to Action, December 2005). The highest percentage of patients in health care is in this age group.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all adults over the age of 75 should receive a comprehensive risk factor analysis. Older adults may be able to "age in place" if appropriate fall prevention strategies are initiated with the onset of frailty.